Written Answers

Friday 24 August 2001

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications it has received under the Rural Stewardship Scheme; what funding has been set aside for the implementation of the scheme, and what percentage of applications are likely to receive funding, all in the current financial year.

Ross Finnie: The number of applications submitted for approval this year is 476. The total agri-environment budget for the current financial year is £30 million, subject to sterling/euro currency fluctuations. The percentage of applications which will receive funding is dependent on the relative merits of applications submitted.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) council tenants, (b) owner-occupiers and (c) private tenants will receive new central heating systems in each year of the operation of its central heating installation programme, broken down by local authority area.

Jackie Baillie: The information is not available in the form requested. Allocations of resources have been made for 2001-02, and allocations for future years will be made at the appropriate time, taking account of progress towards the target.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13129 by Jackie Baillie on 12 March 2001, whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the 8,000 pensioner households in the private rented sector that it anticipates will benefit from its central heating installation programme.

Jackie Baillie: A breakdown of this information by local authority area is not available.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12618 by Jackie Baillie on 1 February 2001, how many pensioners in Glasgow will benefit from the central heating and insulation programme between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002, broken down by tenure.

Jackie Baillie: The information is not available at this time, but the numbers will depend upon the approaches taken by Glasgow City Council in respect of council stock and the Managing Agent in respect of stock in the private sector.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated average cost of installing a central heating system is and what proportion of pensioners do not currently have a central heating system.

Jackie Baillie: We estimate that the package on offer can be installed at an average cost of £2,500 per dwelling. It will be for the managing agent, the local authorities and housing associations to ensure that this is achieved for their respective sectors. We estimate that 40,000 pensioners in the private sector do not have a central heating system or have a system which is wholly broken down and beyond repair.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how pensioners on low income will fund the installation of central heating in their home should the installation cost be higher than the £2,500 available under its central heating installation programme.

Jackie Baillie: The grant for the heating system will cover the main living areas in the home; being the living room, the hall, the bathroom and the main bedroom(s). There will be no additional charge for this work if it exceeds £2,500, but a pensioner may pay to extend the system beyond these main living areas if he or she wishes to do so.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of "pensioner" for the purposes of entitlement under its central heating installation programme.

Jackie Baillie: A pensioner is a person who is aged 60 or over.

Central Heating

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether elderly people who have central heating installed under its installation programme and who are owner-occupiers or private tenants will be eligible for a further grant if they move to a new home that does not have central heating.

Jackie Baillie: Yes, further applications for grant will be accepted providing the applicant is using the house as their only or main residence.

Hospitals

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which hospitals have been closed in each year since 1999, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: The information is contained in the following table:

  


Year of Closure


Health 
Board


Hospital


Date 
of closure




1999


Argyll & 
Clyde


Bridge of 
Weir Hospital


30/11/1999



 

Argyll & 
Clyde


Elderslie 
Hospital, Renfrewshire


30/06/1999



 

Forth Valley


Bellsdyke 
Hospital, Larbert


31/03/1999



 

Greater Glasgow


Knightswood 
Hospital, Glasgow


31/12/1999



 

Greater Glasgow


Ruchill Hospital, 
Glasgow


31/12/1999



 

Greater Glasgow


Rutherglen 
Maternity, Glasgow


1999



 

Lothian


Gogarburn 
Hospital, Edinburgh


07/05/1999



 

Lothian


Southfield 
Hospital, Edinburgh


15/11/1999



 

Lothian


St Joseph’s, 
Rosewell


27/12/1999




2000


Ayrshire & 
Arran


Ballochmyle 
Hospital, Mauchline


09/08/2000



 

Greater Glasgow


Woodilee Hospital, 
Lenzie


31/03/2000



 

Highland


Craig Dunain 
Hospital, Inverness


17/07/2000



 

Highland


Craig Phadrig 
Hospital, Inverness


17/07/2000



 

Orkney


Eastbank Hospital, 
Kirkwall


31/03/2000




2001


Borders


Dingleton 
Hospital, Melrose


15/06/2001



 

Greater Glasgow


Cowglen Hospital, 
Glasgow


01/04/2001



 

Lanarkshire


Bellshill 
Hospital, Bellshill


04/06/2001



 

Lanarkshire


Law Hospital, 
Carluke


29/05/2001



 

Western Isles


Daliburgh 
Hospital, South Uist


09/03/2001



 

Western Isles


Lochmaddy 
Hospital, North Uist


09/03/2001




  It should be noted that the vast majority of hospital closures are part of on-going service improvement and development in making the transfer of services either to the community or to new hospital settings.

Hospitals

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which hospitals have been sold in each year since 1999; what revenue was raised from any such sales, and how much of this revenue was re-invested in community care packages, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: The table details, by health board area, the hospitals and partial hospital sites which have been sold since 1999 and the total capital receipts realised to date from these disposals. Such receipts supplement the level of capital available for investment in NHSScotland and current guidelines indicate that the proceeds from the sale of hospitals and hospital sites should be fully reinvested in improving patient care.

  


Health Board 
Area


Name 
of Hospitals Sold Since 1999
(as 
at 14 August 2001)


Sale 
Proceeds
(£ 
million)




Argyll & 
Clyde


Bridge of 
Weir Hospital


0.400




Ayrshire & 
Arran


Ayr County 
Hospital


0.500




Borders


Dingleton 
Hospital, Melrose


1.325




Forth Valley


Bellsdyke 
Hospital, Larbert
Lochgreen 
Hospital, Falkirk



2.611




Grampian


Daviot Hospital, 
Aberdeen


0.750




Greater Glasgow


Leverndale 
Hospital, Glasgow (part disposal)
Knightswood 
Hospital, Glasgow



9.650




Highland


Craig Dunain 
Hospital, Inverness (part disposal)



0.750




Lothian


Royal Infirmary 
of Edinburgh
Southfield 
Hospital, Edinburgh
Leith Hospital, 
Edinburgh
Gogarburn 
Hospital, Edinburgh



 
 
12.194




Tayside


Dundee Royal 
Infirmary
Part disposals:
Windyridge 
House, Strathmartine Hospital, Dundee
7 & 11Westmount, 
Sunnyside Hospital, Montrose
Murray House 
and Field ‘D’, Murray Royal Hospital, Perth
2 & 3 
Dudhope Terrace, Dundee



 
 
 
 
 
1.517

Population

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to reverse the anticipated population decline over the course of this century.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not operate any specific policies to influence the overall size or age structure of the population. Long-term planning aims to be sufficiently flexible to cope with change in these. However, our Framework for Economic Development in Scotland (laid before the Parliament in June 2000) is focused on instilling a greater economic dynamism that should attract skilled people to stay, return or settle here.

Prescription Charges

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the current position whereby patients who suffer from cystic fibrosis must pay prescription charges.

Susan Deacon: We have no plans to review the current arrangements. It should also be noted that people with chronic illness, who are not exempt from prescription charges on medical grounds, often qualify for free prescriptions on other grounds.

Public Transport

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public funding Stagecoach UK Bus received in the last financial year to support the operation of bus services in each local authority area.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public funding was paid in the last financial year to maintain bus services which Stagecoach UK Bus would otherwise not have operated for profitability reasons.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive does not hold the information requested. Allowance for local authority expenditure on subsidised bus services is included within the general local government settlement allocations. Authorities also receive support through the Rural Public Passenger Transport grant. However, the letting of contracts for the provision of socially necessary bus services is entirely a matter for individual local authorities.

Social Policy

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it uses any data gathered by the Family Fund Trust and, if so, for what purpose.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive receives bulletins of statistical data gathered by the Family Fund Trust, which it uses to inform policy development.

Waste Management

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that private sewage discharges comply with the provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.

Rhona Brankin: Without a consent from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, private sewage discharges, like any other discharge of "poisonous, noxious or polluting matter", would in all but exceptional cases – such as, in an emergency, to avoid danger to life and health - be illegal under the terms of the Control of Pollution Act 1974. It is for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to determine whether any individual private sewage discharge may be consented and, if so, what conditions should be placed on the consent under the terms of the 1974 Act to protect the environmental quality of the receiving waters.

  Where a private sewage discharge has no consent, or fails to comply with the conditions of its consent, any prosecution is a matter for the Procurator Fiscal.

Waste Management

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to develop the recycling market.

Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17123 on 21 August 2001.